Obvious
by angellwings
Summary: Natella. Ella's head snapped up from her sketch book and her eyes widened. "We have an archery field and a ropes course?" Caitlyn gave her a strange look. "Yes." "Since when?" For LaPaige's prompt challenge.


**A/N:** This is for LaPaige's prompt challenge; #20: Innocence.

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Obvious

By angellwings

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"Hey, Jase," Sander asked as he joined the group at the lunch table. "How do you think the JR's would do at the archery field?"

Jason winced. "Um, I think there'd be a lot of arrows causing a lot of pain. You'd be better off with the ropes course."

Ella's head snapped up from her sketch book and her eyes widened. "We have an archery field and a ropes course?"

Caitlyn gave her a strange look. "Yes."

"Since _when_?"

Nate laughed at her and bumped her shoulder with his. "Since forever, El. Maybe if you'd lift your head out of that sketch book every now and then you'd know about it."

Her jaw dropped and she glared playfully at him. "Look who's talking! You had Andy take over your drum classes for a week so that you could lock yourself in a rehearsal cabin to work on a song. A _week_. At least I come up for air once every hour."

Shane laughed and high fived Ella. "Nice."

"Thank you," She said primly with a soft giggle.

"_And_," Mitchie added with a pointed look at Nate. "When's the last time _you_ made it out to the archery field, Nate? I don't think you've ever been there."

Nate gave her a challenging glare. "Have you?"

"Yes," Mitchie said with a light blush as she shared a look with Shane.

Caitlyn rolled her eyes. "Ask her how many times she's actually gone out there to practice archery. Go ahead, I dare you."

Nate grimaced. "No thank you. I'd rather not know."

Ella's brow furrowed. "Why? What else would she be doing?"

Awkward silence took over the table and after a few minutes Ella cleared her throat.

"I'm missing something very obvious again, aren't I?"

Nate chuckled and nodded. "A little bit, yeah."

She blushed and looked down at her sketch pad. "I hate it when I do that."

Nate smiled softly at her. "I don't. It's cute."

He froze and cursed himself. Did he really just say that?

She glanced at him shyly and her blush deepened. "Thanks."

He cleared his throat and spoke up awkwardly. "No problem."

Everyone at the table shared a knowing look at Nate and Ella's expense. It's not like it wasn't completely obvious that they liked each other. They'd been flirting all summer long.

Sander smirked at them and cleared his throat. "Maybe you should take Ella out to the course and give her a few archery lessons, Nate."

Jason and Shane tried to stifle their laughter and Caitlyn and Mitchie gave Sander a surprised look. Nate turned red, and Ella once again looked clueless.

"I really wish I knew what was so funny," Ella said with a sigh as she closed her sketch book. "I—I think I'm gonna go. I'll see you guys later."

Nate glared at them all as Ella left and followed after her.

"Ella," Nate called as he caught up to her. "Slow down."

She paused and turned to him. "I really hate that I'm such a ditz sometimes."

"You're not a ditz," He told her. "You're just…a little more innocent than the rest of us. That's all. It's not a bad thing."

"It _feels_ like a bad thing," She admitted hesitantly.

"C'mon," Nate said as he grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the woods.

"Where are we going?"

"The archery field."

Her nose scrunched up. "Why?"

Nate laughed. "Have you ever tried archery?"

"No, I usually stay away from pointy things or anything with sharp edges. Well, unless it's a pin, needle, or a pair of scissors, that is. I'm afraid if a bow and arrow were _ever_ to be placed in my hands I'd end up accidentally killing someone."

He laughed. "I doubt that. You're usually safe as long as you keep the arrows pointed toward the _target_, El."

"Are you sure you want to do this? Because I don't think anything good is going to come of putting a weapon in my hands," Ella muttered.

"I'm not worried," He told her with a confident smile.

They reached the end of the wooded path and Ella's eyes widened at the size of the clearing in front of them. "Wow, how did I _not_ know this was here? It's _huge_."

"C'mon, over here." He said as he stopped in front of a small storage unit. He opened the door and pulled out a highly complicated looking bow.

"What is that?"

"A bow."

"It's all metal, and has weird wheel looking things on either end of it. It doesn't look like any bow I've ever seen. I thought they were wooden with like a string across them or something."

He grinned at her. "Yes, yes they are…in the _old west_. This is what they look like _now_."

"Um, you know how about we just skip it? I don't need to know how to do this? I mean when am I gonna use it, really?"

He shook his head. "Oh no, you're not backing out. Here."

He placed it in her hands and then grabbed a few arrows before he led her to the area where the targets were. She gave him a hesitant look as he handed her an arrow. She sighed and slowly took her shot. The arrow dug into the ground a few feet in front of them.

Nate laughed lightly. "Okay, now that you know what _not_ to do—"

"Oh shut up," Ella said with a chuckle of her own. "How do you know anything about this anyway?"

"Had to learn a little bit about it for a music video last year," He said with a grin.

"Oh, of course you did," Ella said as she playfully rolled her eyes at him. "Mr. Know-It-All."

He smirked. "Yes, I do know it all, thank you. Now, use your mouth as an anchor point."

Her brow furrowed. "What?"

"You're holding your arms too low. Hold them up higher and use your mouth as an anchor point."

She sighed and did as she was told but he shook his head and chuckled again.

"Almost," He said as he approached her. He placed a hand on her elbow. "Relax your upper arm and bring your elbow down a little bit. You look like you're playing the trombone."

Her breathing hitched and her skin burned where he touched her. She resisted the urge to jump away when his hand landed on her waist.

"Your stance isn't wide enough either," He said as she used his hand to turn and angle her body a bit more. He tried focus on what she needed to improve and _not_ the fact that she smelled like vanilla. He cleared his throat and stepped away from her. "Now, try that."

She nodded mutely and took another shot. This time she hit the target. She wasn't anywhere close to the middle. The arrow had hit _just_ inside the circumference of the target. She gasped and let out a soft squeal. She set the bow down on the table beside of her and rushed Nate with a hug. "I did it!"

Nate's face flushed and he smiled brightly before he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her back. "I told you. You can do anything, Ella. You just have to work at it."

She pulled back just a little to look him in the eyes. "Thank you."

He smiled shyly at her and shrugged. "No thanks necessary." Again her vanilla scent filled his senses and it was all he could seem to think about. Their arms were still around each other, and Nate brought one hand up to tuck a strand of hair behind Ella's ear. His fingers trailed softly across her cheek and he could practically hear her heart beating in her chest. "Ella…"

"Yes?" She asked with a nervous breath.

"You know how you didn't understand what was so funny earlier?"

She nodded and scowled. "Yeah."

He chuckled and pulled her closer to him. "Well, I think you're about to find out."

"What do you—"

And then suddenly his lips were very softly pressing against her own. She took in a sharp breath and tensed at first, but then she felt Nate's hands flatten against her back and hold her tighter. She let out a quiet whimper and relaxed in his arms. He deepened the kiss and as he did so her hands slipped up into his hair. His kisses slowly became more urgent and Ella felt as though he couldn't get enough of her. No one had ever made her feel like that, and she didn't mind one bit.

Because she couldn't get enough of him either.

They finally pulled apart and a sudden realization struck Ella. "Wait. You mean Mitchie and Shane have been sneaking out here to…_make out_?"

Nate laughed loudly at her. "Of all the things you could have said right now…I was _not_ expecting that."

"So, that means Sander basically told you to bring me here and…do what we just did. Right?"

Nate smirked at her in amusement. "Yes, but I _honestly_ didn't plan on kissing you. It just sort of happened. Is that okay?"

She smiled brightly and nodded. "Better than okay, Nate, it's perfect."


End file.
